Troops in Afghanistan already around 7,500, official said (File)
Kabul:
The U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan is considerably ahead of schedule, an official told AFP on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump reiterated his calls to the Pentagon to bring troops home.
The developments occurred as questions hovered over the next phase of the long war in Afghanistan, with the expiration of a three-day ceasefire and anxious expectation of when violence could return.
Under an agreement the United States signed with the Taliban in February, the Pentagon was expected to cut troops from around 12,000 to 8,600 in mid-July before withdrawing all of its forces from the Pentagon. here May 2021.
But a senior US defense official said the troop count was already around 7,500 as commanders sought to speed up the withdrawal due to fears over the coronavirus pandemic.
“The withdrawal was accelerated because of the precautions to be taken with COVID-19,” said the official, adding that the departure of anyone with underlying health problems or over a certain age was a priority.
Trump told reporters on Tuesday that the level of the US forces had “dropped to 7,000 soldiers at the moment.”
The next day, he returned to a frequent complaint that America should not act as a “police force” in Afghanistan.
“After 19 years, it is time for them to control their own country,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
“Take our soldiers home, but watch what’s going on and strike with thunder like never before, if necessary!”
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Thomas Campbell said in a statement that the United States adheres to its agreement with the Taliban.
Any further withdrawals would come “after the US government has assessed the security environment and the Taliban’s compliance with the agreement,” he added.
Calls for an extension of the ceasefire
Afghanistan has just enjoyed a rare respite from its nearly 19-year war after the Taliban called for a three-day ceasefire to mark the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Fitr.
But the historic hiatus, which is only the second of its kind, expired on Wednesday and calls to the Taliban to renew it went unanswered, although there were no immediately confirmed reports of major violence.
The Afghan government has said it will continue to release the Taliban prisoners, which had been agreed to in the US insurgents agreement and which is seen as essential for resuming long-delayed peace talks.
On Tuesday, the Afghan army released around 1,000 Taliban detainees, mainly from Bagram prison near Kabul, as part of a pledge to release up to 2,000 insurgents in response to the ceasefire led by Taliban.
On Wednesday, a senior Taliban official told AFP that in return, the insurgents plan to release around 50 to 100 members of the Afghan security forces on Thursday.
Senior Afghan officials have asked the Taliban to extend the ceasefire and have offered to reciprocate.
“If the Taliban are ready to extend the ceasefire, we are ready to continue it too,” National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal said on Tuesday.
The future of talks with insurgents “depends on the Taliban’s next decision,” he added.
The two parties’ release of prisoners is part of a US-Taliban agreement, which excluded the Afghan government, which stipulates that Kabul will release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and that activists will release approximately 1,000 national security personnel. .
Kabul had already released around 1,000 Taliban detainees before the ceasefire, while insurgents had released around 300 government prisoners.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
